The Aviary is finished (almost)!!

We've still got some finishing touches to go but thought you might like to see .....

The structure, itself, is done and the birds of Mistwald Loft are LOVING IT !!! We still need to put the metal roofing on and move the gravel dust from being in a pile OUTSIDE in the Kennel to being spread on the floor INSIDE the Aviary BUT the important thing is that all the birds now get to be outside at the same time and there's room to FLY! The bottom "chicken door" can now be opened, too, providing more air flow than just the 2 windows alone did. The perches you see under the window were REALLY just temporary ... having been put up on the old aviary's supports so they at least had something to stand on while they figured out this new space. Those boards have now been replaced with a few perches placed up high in the front left corner - so now the residents can sit high and get some sun or walk around the floor (pretty funny to watch them figuring that out). We'll put in some more perches - high & low - but these will do for now and will become even more important once the snows begin to fall. You can't see it in the photo but there is a layer of hardware cloth under the dirt and tacked up under the loft itself and along the bottom edges of the Aviary. The gravel dust will then be laid deep enough to cover the lower wood supports and the bottom edge of the Aviary .... with 12" x 12" x 1" terra cotta garden blocks "paving" the floor

<btw, Charis .... please note ... I finally figured out the photo posting thing :Rolling eyes: >

Very cute! The building looks like it's a cabin and the flight is very nice too
Your pijjie friends will be so happy living there.

Yes you did figure out how to post.

Nice job...it's very charming and the birds will love it.

Hi Really looks nice and am sure the birds will enjoy their new home.... sure it is a lot of work, but looking good...

That's a nice setup for your pijjies.
for sharing it with us.

on mastering the posting of pictures.

It looks nice. I would love to have a walk in flypen of that size. What did you cover it with?

What a lovely loft and fly pen. I'm sure your babies will enjoy their expanded space.

In the first picture, I see two pretty birds taking a bath. Does your gravel dust work well with water and does not stay wet and moist? If so, try arena sand. I use it and works well in draining the water from baths and rain. No standing water.

How many birds will be the loft? Do you have more than one loft?


You should be very proud. It looks great!

Great looking aviary Your birds will definitely be loving it

I love your little cabin and flight loft. I know the birds will be so happy.

I wish I was able to have something like that for my birds.

Louise

nicely done, looks great

EgypSwiftLady wrote:

Very cute! The building looks like it's a cabin and the flight is very nice too
Your pijjie friends will be so happy living there.

My Gallery has a few photos of the inside (when it was new and still squeeky clean). It was a pre-fab 6x8 Garden Shed with a few additions (nesting boxes & chicken door) to turn it into a Chicken Coop - PERFECT! It's even a "SaltBox style" so it matches the house (even more so once we stain it next year) and it just looks like 1 more "outbuilding'. We found it at a local "shed place" last Fall ... built a small "California Aviary" between the windows and called it good ... with plans to build this bigger Fly Space eventually. "Eventually" has arrived We decided last night that we'll also put a bank of roosting boxes outside between the windows so they can 'settle in' outside if they wish.

Fancyfeathers wrote:

on mastering the posting of pictures.

Well .... seems I figured it out if the photos are on my system somewhere .... but I'm still stumped by photos which I've already put in my Gallery but now want to put in a thread

NiteOwl wrote:

It looks nice. I would love to have a walk in flypen of that size. What did you cover it with?

Right now, the Aviary is just covered by plywood but we do have the red metal roofing that matches the loft, itself. We'll put the Aviary's metal roof on, slide it under the lip of the loft's roof .... and it will look like it's all one structure. This is FULL southern exposure so the metal roof (and terra cotta floor tiles) will also provide some passive solar warmth in the winter. When it gets really cold or windy, we also have a tarp to wrap around the Aviary screen, with toggles to be attached at the roof line.

Birdbarn wrote:

What a lovely loft and fly pen. I'm sure your babies will enjoy their expanded space.

In the first picture, I see two pretty birds taking a bath. Does your gravel dust work well with water and does not stay wet and moist? If so, try arena sand. I use it and works well in draining the water from baths and rain. No standing water.

How many birds will be the loft? Do you have more than one loft?

You should be very proud. It looks great!

Thanks for the compliments, Birdbarn .... but I've seen your Fly Space :WHAT?: (Rest assured that our birds will NOT! ... I can hear the demands already)

We have this loft (with 20 ... soon to be 21... birds) and a separate Rabbit Hutch in the garage for isolation. We're full....although, one never knows what'll happen at Wolfwood. I did hear mention of a Loft Addition last night

We considered arena sand but the Loft is actually INSIDE our dog kennel and the entire kennel floor already has 12" of gravel dust throughout (that's actually not dirt in the photos ... nor is it dark brown like that ... funny shadows) It packs down and provides a really solid & pretty smooth surface for walking on and cleaning, but has EXCELLENT drainage. It's also the same stuff that's laid under and between the bricks & cobbles in all of our walk-ways. We've never had standing water, it doesn't stay damp (so there's also no clumping), even with LOTS of rain or the Spring snow melt. AND it doesn't get tracked into the house (even on dog paws!) It was pretty much the PERFECT stuff for the kennel space .... so the birds get it too!

wolfwood wrote:

Fancyfeathers wrote:

on mastering the posting of pictures.

Well .... seems I figured it out if the photos are on my system somewhere ....
but I'm still stumped by photos which I've already put in my Gallery but now want to put in a thread

That I haven't tried. I believe they post kind of large.
I'll take a look and see if I can figure it out.